Machine for forming joint reenforcements



June 24, 1930. l'F. A. MANsKE ET AL 1,768,127

MACHINE FOR FORMING JOINT REENFORCEMENTS Filed Sept. 17, 1928 4Sheets-5h36?l l err- IN E TOR f-' der/flax lngs/'ce Wl /lam MMC- el?ATTORN;

June .24, "1930. v 'F.-A. MANS@ .-r AL, 1,768,127

MACHIN FQR FORMING JOTNT.REENFORCEMENTS Fild sept. 17, 192s" 4Sheets-Sheetl 2 UORNE;

111111224, 1930. F. A. MA'NSKE er AL. 1,768,127

MACHINE FOR FRMING JOINT 'REENFORCEMENTS Fued sept. 1v, 19284'sheets-sheet '5 ATT EY June 24, 1930.

F. A. MANSKE ET AL 1,768,127

MACHINE FOR FORMING JOINT REENFORCEMENTS Filed Sept. 1'7, 1928 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Mig? 1 ATToR Patented Jim@ 24, 1930 UNITED STATES esta?orifice y FREDERICK A. MANSKE AND WILLIAM 1v1. To UNITED STATESGYPSUM'CCMPANY, ILLINoIs MACHINE FOR FCRMING Application filed SeptemberThis invention relates to a machine for forming joint reenforcement forWall'board from Wire fabric.

In forming oint reenforcement for plasterboard and Wallboard, such asthat described in the co-pending application of Charles R. Birdsey andFrederick A. Manske, Serial No. 296,923, filed Aug. 2, 1928, itisdesirable to utilize standard electric Welded Wire fabric which can bepurchased on the open market and to cut this fabric into strips ofsuitable Widths and to then bend the free ends of the cut Wires into thedesired form or shape. It is also desirable that this operation offorming strips of joint reenforcement be carried on automatically so asto reduce the cost of manufacture to' a minimum.

An `object of this invention, therefore, is to provide a machine forforming strips of joint reenforcement or lacing for plaster andWallboard from rolls of standard, electric Welded Wire fabric. l

Another object of the invention is to' provide `a machine which isadapted to carry out the above described object automatically, in orderto reduce the cost of operation to a minimum: and also to improvemachines for forming joint reenforcements in other respects hereinafterspecified and claimed.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthisspecification, .in Which- Figure 1 isa side elevation of ourimproved machine for manufacturing the joint reenforcing strip, v

Figure 2 is a plan View of the improved machine,

Figure 3 is a fragmentary, plan View on a large scale showing loopforming mechanism of the machine,

Figure 4l is an elevation of the portion of the machine containing loopforming mechanism shown in Figure 3,

Figure 5 is a fragmentary bottom view of a portion of the bending bars,v

Figure 6- isa sectional view through the bending bars taken' on the lineG-G .of Figure v5.

Figure 7 is a side elevation of a modified form of machine' forcut-.ting the finished MCNEII'., 0E CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIcfNons orCHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or 1*?, 1928. Serial No. 306,582.

strips of joint reenforcement into desired lengths,

Figure 8 is a plan View ofthe machine shown in Figure 7,

Figure 9 is a sectional elevation through' the machine on the line 9 9of Figure 8,

Figure 10 is a plan View of an intermediate form of the jointreenforcement,

yFigure 11 is a plan vievv of a later intermediate form of the jointreenforcement, and

Figure 12 is a plan view of the finished product from our improvedmachine, namely the joint reenforcement Strip.

The electric Welded Wire fabric sold commercially is usually in the formof rolls 10, and consists of a plurali-ty of longitudinal Wires 11, andcross Wires 12 Welded to ysaid, longitudinal Wires. These rolls .ofelectric Welded fabric may conveniently be 48 Wide with the Wire spaced2 longitudinally and transversely but any other dimensions may be usedif desired. Our improved machine may be used in connection with anelectric Welding fabric machine, in which case the electric Weldedfabric would enter our improved machine directly from` the Weldingmachine, rather that being unWound from the rolls 10. Fabric roll 10 issupported on a suitable shaft- 13, which is rotatably mounted in anupwardly extending slotbearing 14 formed in a machine framework arm 15.A certain amount of resistance to unwinding is applied to the` fabricroll 10 by means of flat springs 16, which are secured on the innersides of outstanding arms 115, so as to press against the hubs 17 whichare yclamped onto the roll l0 in any suitable Way.

As the Wire fabric is unWound from the rol-l 10, it is `desired tocutsame into longitudinal strips, each strip having two or morelongitudinal Wires. For this purpose the `Wire fabric first passesbetween upper idler rollers 18 and 19 and corresponding lower idlerrollers 2() and 21, these rollers merely serving to steady the Wirefabric and direct same into the cutting Wheel to be hereinafterdescribed. The means for cutting the cross Wires Vof the Wire fabricpreferably.v consists of upper cutting Wheels 22 vand lower cuttingwheels 28, the periphery of said Wheels bewires l2 of the wire fabric.

The upperrand lower cutting wheels 22 and Y 23 are arranged in pairswith the periphery of said wheels overlapping a sufficient distance tocut the cross wires, the said upper and lower wheels being offsetandmerely separated by a sufficient clearance to obtain the propercut-ting action of the cross wires.

The upper cutting wheels 22 are secured to a shaftV 25, and the lowercutting wheels 23 are secured to a shaft 26, said shafts 25 and 26 beingrotatably mounted in suitable bearings 27 and 28 formed in the frameworkof the machine. The shaft 26 is positively driv- .en with continuousrotation, by means of an electricmotor 30 or other suitable source ofpower, said motor being provided with a suitable speed reducer, notshown, and with a sprocket wheel 3lv connected by a chain 32 to asprocket Wheel 33 secured tothe shaft 26.V rl`he shafts 25 and 26 aregeared together so as to rotate at the same speed, by means of an upper`geark34 secured to the shaft 25, and a similar lower gear, not shown,connected to the end of the shaft 26 and meshing with the gear 34. rlhecutting wheels 22 and 23 areso arranged on thev shafts 25 and 26, thatthe crosswires between every pair of longitudinal wires will be cut soas to leave strips'of wire fabric having two or more longitudinal wiresconnected by the cut pieces of cross wires l2.y

llt is possible to stop the manufacture of the wire fab 1ic jointreenforcing strips at this point, so as to produce strips with straightoutstanding ends as shown in Figure l0, in which oase the strips ofjoint reenforcement will pass over suitable idler rolls 35 and 36rotatably mounted on the framework of the machine, and then said stripswill be wound up to form a roll of strips 3T, said roll being supportedon a shaft 36 mounted in suitable bearings 39 secured to the framework4() of the machine. In order to rotate the shaft 38 at the proper speedto allow for the constantly changing diameter of the roll 37 of strips,a jaw clutch half 4l) secured to the shaft 38 and a jaw clutch half 4lis rotatably mounted on shaft A sprocket wheel 42 is secured to theclutch half 4l and a spring is arranged between a nut 44, screwed ontothe end of shaft38, and the clutch half 4l, said spring tending to urgethe clutch half 41 inwardly so tiat the teeth thereof engage similarteeth on the clutch shaft 40. Thus the clutch half 4l is designed torotate at a coi'istant speed, while the speed of the clutch half 4() isconstantly changing due to the changing diameter of the roll of fabricstrips, the teeth 45 of the aw halves 40 and 4l slipping a suiiicientamount to permitthe two clutch halves to rotate at different speeds. A

framework of the machine.

ineens? chain 46 connects Vthe sprocket wheel 42 to any suitable sourceof power such as themotor 30. .Y

Ordinarily, however, it is desirable to bend the cross wire ends 50rearwardly and inwardly so as to form loops 5l, as shown in Figure'l2.rlhis desirable but'not essential step in the manufacturing process isaccomplished after the cutting operation and'before the strips are woundonthe Vrolls rFliese loops 5l are formed by means of bending` bars and56y extendingv above the wire fabric in parallel, abutting relation. Oneouter end of the bar 56 is provided with a spindle 5'4", the outer endof such spindle being mounted in a bearing 58 secured to the y Thespring 59 extending between the bearing 58 and a washer 60 secured tothebar 56, tends to urge the bar 56 inwardly toward'the wire fabric.

A similar spindle 6l is secured tol the oppof site end fbar 55, theouter end of such spindle 61. being .received ina bearing 62 formed onthe framework of the machine, and a spring 63 on said spindle, tendstourge the bar 55 inwardly toward the wire fabric. The

Vbars 55 and 56 are supported invr sliding, par- The fingers Vand 68arein alternate ar-l rangement, a lug 7l 'beingformed on the lowersurface of each finger 70 and a lug 72 being formed on the lower surfaceof Yeach finger 68. The centerline of the lugs 7l and 72 isapproximately coincident wit-h the abutting surfaces of the bars 55 and56 and each iin ger is provided with an outstanding rounded surface 7 3which normally lies in the path of travel of the outstanding ends'50 ofthe cross wire l2 as said cross wires are drawn or pulled along.

ln order to cause the continuous forward movement of the wire stripsafter being .sev-

ered by the cutting wheels 22 and 23, a drum 75 is positioned below thesliding bars 55 and 56, said drum being provided with-radially extendingpins 7 6 arranged in a plurality of annular rows, each row of pins beingspaced apart a sufficient distance so that a pair or more oflongitudinal wires 1l forming a reenforcing strip, will just be includedbetween said pins. Each pair of pins in a given row is spaced apart onthe periphery of the drum 7 5 a distance equal to the distance betweencenters of cross wires 512. The drum 75 is ,secured to ashaft 7 8 whichin turn is rotatiso ably mounted in suitable bearings 79 secured to theframework ofthe machine. `The shaft 78 is driven with a continuousrotary inotion by means of a gear 80, or other suitable driving means,secured near one endv of said shaft, such gear meshing with an idlerpinion 81 which in turn is rotatably mounted on a stud shaft 82 securedin a bearing 83. The idler pinion 81 meshes with a gear 84 which issecured on the shaft 26, so that the shaft 78 is positively driven 'fromthe shaft 26. v

As seen in Figure 3` when the square backs 85 of lugs 71 and 72 are inabutting relation,

y the rounded surfaces 78 on such pins are spaced apart from thecorresponding drive pin 7 6 approximately the thickness of the wire.used in the cross wires 12, so that as the fabric strips aredrawnforward by the drive pins 76, the wire ends V are bent rearwardlyby engagement with said rounding surfaces 78, to form a wire stripsimilar to that as lshown in Figure 11. It should be understood that thestrips may be used in this V,in-

-, termediate form of manufacture, as shown in Figure 11, but it ispreferable to bend the wire ends 50 inwardly to form loops 51.

This inward bending of the wire ends 50 to form the loops 51 isaccomplished by means of cams 88and 89, which are preferably in the formof discs secured near opposite ends of the shaft 7 8. Cam teeth 90 areformed .on the outer faces of cams 88 and 89, said teeth being arrangedin an annular series, each tooth having a sudden drop 91 anda gradualrise 92. A downwardly extending lug 93 is formed on the lower side ofthe outer end of bar 56 and a similar downwardly extending lug 94 isformed on the outer end of bar 55,

z said lugs 93 and 94 lying in the path o f travel of the cam teeth 90.The action of the lugs 7l and 72, carried by the cams, as the drumslowly rotates, is for the rounding surface 78 on said lugs to firstengage the wire ends 50 and slowly bend them rearwardly, the flat backsof said lugs being in substantially abutting relation as shown in Figure5 with the lugs 93 and 94 on the high points of cam teeth 90, in whichposition sufficient clear-v ance is provided to allow the passage of thewire ends 50. The sudden drop 91 on the cam teeth now causes the lugs 71and 72 to separate under the action of springs 59 and 63 so that saidlugs 71 and 72 bend the wire ends inwardly to form loops 51. As the drum75 then continues to rotate, the pins 76 withdraw from the loops 51 andthe bending operation is complete with the fabric in finished form asshown in Figure 12.

For ordinary purposes, it is sufficient .to wind the finished strips ofwirefabric up into rolls as shown in Fig. 1, but for many purposes it isdesired to cut the finished wire reenforcing strips into lengths and forthis purpose the modified form ofinachinc is'used as shown in Figures 7,8 andl 9. lVith this modified type of machine,rthe finished strips ofwire reenforcement, after leaving the drum 75, pass over a substantiallyhorizontal table 96 which is supported on suitable framework j which maybe in the form of Channel `strip 97. Tol the web of the channel 9.7,issecured a lower shear knife 98, above, which is mounteda movable shearknife 99, the lower .cutting edge of shear knife 99 being at a'slightangle to the upper edge of the shear knife 98 so that approximately oneof the longitudinal wires 11. will be severed at one time as themovablev shear knife 99 is moved downwardly by a mechanism to behereinafterdescribed. The mechanism for intermittently operating themovable shear knife 99 is composed of a shaft l1.00 mounted in bearings101 secured to vertical standard 102, an eccentric 103 is secured neareach end of the shaft 100, said eccentric beingshaped to rotatablyreceive a circular band 104. A .connecting plate 105 is pivotally ysecured by a connecting rod to the lower si de of bands 104, the outerends of said plate 105 being received in suitable slide ways 100 formedin standards 102, the movable shear knife 99 being securedvto the lowerYside of plate 105.

lt is desired to have the shaft 100 rotate intermittently through onerevolution so as ..1

to accomplish a shear cut and so cut off the finished vstrips of wirereenforcement in lengths of say 48 inches, more or less. For thispurpose a clutch is mounted on the shaft 100,*onevha1fA 108`of suchclutch being in the form of a disc securedto the shaft 100. The otherhalf`109 is also in the Aform of a disc having a cylinder 110 formedaround its outer periphery. A hub 111 is formed ony the disc 110, saidhub being rotatably mounted on the shaft 100. A sprocket wheel 112. issecured to the hub 111 and is connected by chain 118 and suitablegearing notshown to lany source of powerLsuch as the motor 80, Internalteeth 114v are'formed inside the drinn 110 and a semi-circular dog 115is pivotally mounted on the disc 108 adjacent teeth 114. A lever 116 issecured to the dog 115, and extends substantially radially relative tothe disc 108. A spring 117 secured between the dog 115 and a pin 118formed'on the disc 108, normally tends to maintain said-dog 115 inengagement with the teeth 114. However, when the lever 116is actuated bya mechanism to be hereinafter described, the dog 115 is rotated into theposition shown in Figure 9, so as to be disengaged from the teeth 114and thus cause the disc 108 and shaft 100 to be disconnected. i

In orderto engage the lever 116 so that the dog 115 is disconnected fromteeth 114, a catch 120 is provided on one end of an arm 121 of abella-crank lever, said ylever being mounted upon a pivot pin 122. The`vother arm 1.723. of said lever is connected by a rod 124 to an arm 125of a bell-crank lever, said Vif lit",

lever being pivotally mounted in pivot pin 126. Another arm l127 of saidlever carries a weight 128 whichnormally tends to Vmove the last namedbell-crank lever in a counten clockwise direction. Another arm 129'ofsaid Alever ispivotally connected to a bar 130, the opposite end ofwhich is provided with a latch shoulder 131 anda cam surface 132. A

shaft 133 is pivotally mounted in bearings 134 and an arm 135 is'securedto said shaft, a semicircular shoe 136 being secured to the'outerk endof said arm. A pawl 137 is also' secured to said shaft, the outer end ofsaid pawl being adapted to engage underneath the bar 130 until said pawlengages shoulder 131 at which time it moves the bar 130 to the right asseen in Figure v9, until theA cam surface 132 engages a fixed pin 138which causes the bar 130 to movejupwardly. about itszpivot until theshoulder 131 disengages from the paw] 137. When the bar 130'is thusreleased from the pawl 137, the weight 128 causes the catch 120 to againengage the clutch drum 110 to disengage the clutch when one cut has beenmade. .y

, sired. A driven roller 142 is providedV above y the wire fabric, Vsaidroller being secured to a shaft 143 which is mounted in suitablebearings 144 on theframework ofthe machine. A sprocket wheel 145 is alsosecured to the shaft 143 and 'a chain 146 connects said sprocket wheelto a second sprocketl wheel not shown secured to a shaft 147. VA thirdsprocket wheel 148 on the shaft 147 is connected by a chain 149andsuitable gearing to any source of powersuch as the motor 30.

v A roller 150 is mounted lon a shaft 151 directly under the shaft 143,said shaft 151 being retained in slide bearings 152, a suitable spring153 being also provided to normally urge the roller 150 against thelower lface of the wire fabric so that said fabric is firmly butyieldingly gripped between the rollers 142 and 150. After the cut ismade by the downward movement of the knife 99, the rapidly l drivenroller 142 picks up the cut pieces of finished reenforcing strips andquickly moves them forwardly to an inclined surface 155 which takes themto any desired discharge point. The shoe 136 then releases from thecutpieces of wire reenforcement and rotates in a countercloclzwisedirection under the action of weight 141 to its normal position, thiscycle of operations taking place before the drum 110'has made onecomplete revolution or before the cnt has been completed.

1n operation, theV wire fabric unwinds from the roll of the fabric 10,and passes between upper rollers18 and19 and lower rollers 2O and 21which serve to guide the fabric, and then passes between cutting wheels22 and 23, where the cross wires between alternate longitudinal wiresare cut. The cut strips of fabric then pass to drum75 which ispositively driven and carries driving pins 76 which engage the meshes ofthe fabric and move same forward with a vpostive movement. When thefabric strips pass underneath the bars 55 and 56, the, cut ends50 ofsaid cross wires engage rounded surfaces 73 on the lugs 71and 72 and arebent rearwardly, said lugs 71 and 72 moving together against the actionof springs 59V and 63, this action being made Vpositive by means of camteeth 90 operating on downwardly extending lugs 93 and 94 secured tobars 56 and 55 respectively. Afterk passing the center point, the camteeth 90 disengage from the lugs 93 and 94 so that the lugs 7 2 and 73separate under the action of springs 59 and63 so as to bend the wireends inwardly to form wire hoolrs 51. The conn t'inued rotation of thedrum 75 then causes the Vdriving pins 76 todisengage from the hooks 51and the finished fabric strips are wound on Y vroll 37. Y l

In the operation of themodified forni of means of clutch vhalves 108 and109 which are connected together by pivotally mounted dog 115 engagingthe internal teeth 114 at pre-determined intervals. Thecut pieces ofwire fabric are moved rapidly away from the 'g5 movable shear 99 bymeans of rapidly driven roll 142. rlhefshoe 136 bears against the lowerface ofthe vwire fabric and operates to move the shaft 133 in aclockwise direction as the cut strip ofwire reenforcement nieves to theright as shown in Figure 9. This causes the pawl 137 to move along thebar 130 until saidV pawl engages the catch 131 whichV operates leverarms 129, 125, ro'd124 and lever arms 123 and 121 to cause the catch 120to release from the lever 116 so that the dog 115 connects the twoclutch halvesy and operatesV the cutting'shears. Vhcn the cut pieces of'wire reenfo'rcement have passed the shoe 136,

the weight 141 returns the shoe to normal position until the time forkanother cut across the fabrichas arrived. Y

We would state in conclusion that while the illustrated examplesconstitute certain practical embodiments of our invention, we do notlimit ourselves strictly to the details herein illustrated, anddescribed since mani festly the same can be considerably varied withoutdeparting from the spirit of the in vention as defined in the appendedclaims.

Having thus described our invention, we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent l. In a machine for forming strips of wirereenforcement, means for supplying wire fabric having longitudinal andcross wires, cutting means adapted to sever such cross wires to form aplurality of strips of wire reenforcement, and means for bending saidcut ends of the cross wires to form loops.

2. In a machine for forming strips of wire reenforcement, means forsupplying wire fabric having longitudinal and cross wires, means forsevering said cross wires to form a plurality of strips of wirereenforcement, means for bending the cut ends of said cross wires atright angles to said longitudinal wires, and means for moving saidstrips to a discharge point.

3. Ina machine for forming strips of wire reenforcement, means forsupplying a wire fabric having longitudinal and cross wires, means forsevering such cross Wires to form outstanding ends, means for bendingsaid ends at substantially right angles to said longitudinal wires, andreciprocating means adapted to further bend such ends inwardly towardthe longitudinal wires to form loops.

4. In a machine for forming strips of joint reenforcement7 means forsupplying wire fabric having longitudinal and cross wires, means forsevering said cross Wires to form outstanding ends, a rotary elementhaving radially extending pins around the periphery thereof, said pinsbeing adapted to engage said cross wires, and means for continuouslydriving said rotary elements so as to accomplish the continuous movementof said cut strips.

5. In a machine for forming strips of joint reenforcement, means forsupplying a wire fabric having cross wires and longitudinal wires, apair of cutting wheels in spaced relation and having cutting groovesformed at intervals around the periphery of said wheels, said groovesand said pair of wheels being adapted to register adjacent the crosswires of said fabric so as to sever said cross wires, and means formoving thev out strips of fabric to a discharge point.

6. In a. machine for forming strips of oint reenforcement, means forsupplying a wire fabric having longitudinal and cross wires, means forcutting said cross wires to form longitudinal strips, the cut ends ofsaid cross wires being in outstandingrelation to said longitudinalwires, and reciprocating means having lugs adjacent their lower surfaceadapted to form said cut wire ends into loops.

7. In a wire strip machine, means for supplying wire fabric havinglongitudinal and cross wires, means for cutting said cross wires so asto form strips of said fabric, a

to control the movement of said bars so that said lugsbend the cut endsof said cross wires so as to form loops.

FREDERICK A. MANSKE. IVILLIAM M. MCNEIL.

